


The New Jedi Chronicles

by ZiggyStardust02



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bisexual Poe Dameron, F/M, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Jedi Training (Star Wars), M/M, POV Alternating, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rating: PG13, Violence, episodic, trio shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27517552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiggyStardust02/pseuds/ZiggyStardust02
Summary: "I close my eyes. I focus on my breath, on my heartbeat, on the ground beneath my feet, even on the fire...I search for, find, and tap into the energy that connects all of these things.I can't move things with this energy like Rey can. I can't transform that energy into something outward and tangible - at least, not yet. But I'm connected to the Force. I can travel through it."The war may be won, but the work of the Jedi is far from over. Rey Skywalker, Finn, and Poe Dameron travel the galaxy, fighting to stop treacherous evils that still lie in its depths. An ongoing series of episodes set after The Rise of Skywalker.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Kudos: 1
Collections: Star Wars





	The New Jedi Chronicles

**AJAN KLOSS, AJARA - 36 ABY**

**1.5 YEARS AFTER THE BATTLE OF EXEGOL**

**FINN**

I crouch low and swing my lightsaber at Rey with all the strength I can muster. The blade is a brilliant neon green, contrasting the dark breadth of the jungle surrounding us.

With her own blade of vivid yellow, Rey blocks the swing with ease. She swats the weapon away from her, slashes her blade horizontally.

My breath catching in my throat, I spin out of the way and take a jab at her midriff.

Rey stumbles out of the blade's reach.

We circle each other, lightsabers pointed at one another. The cortosis-weave armor and face shield I'm wearing are both hot and weighty, especially in this jungle humidity, but it protects against lightsaber blades. Great for training, but it would be pretty damn impossible to wear this in a battle.

I can see Rey's eyes through the small slit in her face shield. There's a mix of mischief and determination in her eyes, like she already _knows_ that she's going to win. "Not bad," she says, slightly breathless.

I spin the lightsaber in my hand and take a swing at her shoulder.

Rey points her saber downward and casts the blade out of her way. She brings the blade above her head and forcefully thrusts it down toward my head.

I turn my blade horizontal and our sabers crash into each other. The motion sends a jarring, vibrational energy from my hands all the way up to my shoulders. "'Are you trying to kill me?" I say, blinking at the bright intersection of blades inches away from my face.

"I knew you would block that." Her eyes flash. She swings up her leg and kicks me just below my ribs.

I stumble backward, feel myself trip on a branch, and fall flat onto the forest floor. The armor protects me, and the mud provides a sort of cushion, but the impact still isn't all that pleasant.

I wheeze slightly and prop myself up by my elbow, pointing the tip of my blade at her.

Rey reciprocates the motion, standing tall above me, our blades parallel. She lifts up her face shield and blows a loose strand of hair out of her face. "I think now would be a good time to surrender."

I heave a sigh and turn my lightsaber off. "I went easy on you that time."

She turns her own lightsaber off and holds out her hand. "I'm sure you did."

I take it and pull myself up.

"You're getting better." Rey clips the hilt to her belt.

"Oh, yeah?" I say, not hiding my doubt.

"I mean it. You _are_ getting better. But you're unfocused. You're relying on your own strength - rather than the Force - and it shows."

"I don't understand why a Jedi can't use a good blaster…"

She gives him a weary look. "I'm not having this argument with you again."

Resisting the exhaustion in my muscles, I back up and say, "Let's go again."

She scoffs. "No. We've been training all day."

"I'm not that tired," I lie.

"Well _I_ am."

I open my mouth to protest - but I'm interrupted by a buzzing coming from the inside of my pocket. I reach into it and pull out my holotransmitter. I rest the device in the palm of my sweaty, mud-covered hand and answer the call.

A holoprojection of Poe from the waist up emits from the device. The old transmitter has a habit of glitching, but I'm able to see the expression on his face: he looks drained, worried.

"Poe?" I say.

His expression softens slightly. "Hi."

Rey sidles up to my side. "Is everything okay?"

"I need you on Yavin Four." His eyes bounce between the two of us. "Both of you."

"Right now?" I ask.

Poe nods. "Right now."

**YAVIN 4, YAVIN**

**POE DAMERON**

I watch as the Falcon lowers onto the land right at the jungle's edge. It's a sunny, cloudless day, and I (selfishly) think about flying. Today's the first clear day in about a week - Yavin 4's weather is a different kind of beast - and I just finished repairing an old A-Wing a couple days ago.

I've been in the skies so much that being on land for more than twenty-four hours makes me feel restless. Flying is the only thing that keeps me from thinking too much.

The landing gear is activated, the engine cuts, and the ramp is lowered.

BB-8 rolls up beside me, chirping excitedly.

"Me too." I reach down and pat the astromech's round little head.

Unable to contain his excitement, BB zooms past me through the tall grass.

"Beebee - !" I laugh in an exasperated kind of way and jog up to the _Falcon._

After a few seconds, the droid comes back down, chattering relentlessly beside a confused-looking Finn.

Finn responds with intermittent "Uh huh"s and "Really?"s and "That's crazy"s, but clearly doesn't know what BB's saying.

Although it's been only three and a half months since I've seen him, there's something different about him. He looks a bit stronger.

"Y'know," Finn says to the droid. "Deo's somewhere on the ship…"

BB-8 perks his head up and darts up the ramp again.

"You changed your hair," I say. That's another thing that's different about him.

Finn gently tugs at one of the black twists rooted in the top of his scalp. "And you're going for the scruffy look."

I scratch at my short, dark beard. "I happen to _like_ the scruffy look."

Finn smiles and hops off of the ramp, pulling Poe into a hug. "It's good to see you," he says. He pushes me back abruptly, still grasping me firmly by the elbows, studying my face. "Are you doing okay?"

I smile at him reassuringly. "I'm doing just fine."

"'Taking care of yourself?"

"I'm alive, aren't I?"

His frown deepens.

I sigh. "I'm taking care of myself…"

Finn lets go of me, not looking entirely convinced.

I cock a brow at him. "So you don't like the scruff?"

He hesitates before saying, "It's... _different._ "

My face falls flat. "Wow. Thanks."

Hearing footsteps coming from the inside of the ship, I look beyond Finn's shoulder.

Rey comes down the ramp, a trail of droids (BB-8 and Finn's tiny, cone-headed droid, D-O) behind her. Her lean form is dressed in tan fatigues, brown hair loose and reaching her waist.

I give her a nod.

Wordlessly, she goes up to me and I receive yet another sympathetic hug, this one more bone-crushing than the last.

"I wish we were visiting under different circumstances," she says.

I pat her back. "Me too."

Rey releases me.

I exhale, happy to breathe again.

"You weren't real clear about what the circumstances _were,"_ Finn says.

I beckon them to walk toward the homestead.

We start crossing the yard, trudging through the wet morning grass.

"I was being cautious," I explain. "Just in case the call was intercepted."

"Did you know him?" Rey asks.

I tense. "I knew _of_ him. But no, we weren't close. Els Iris was his name. He didn't seem like someone who would have enemies. But he was killed last night, and it sure as hell wasn't an accident." I stop in my tracks and turn around to face them. "Nyra - his wife - she didn't know what to do, she called me over…"

"You know the wife well, then?" Finn asks casually.

Although Finn's tone wasn't interrogative, it feels like an interrogation to me. "Yeah, we're friends," I say dismissively. "I saw the body. Which was…" I clear my throat and don't finish the sentence, repressing the recent memory. "Not everyone knows what a lightsaber wound looks like. But _I_ do, and that definitely was one."

Rey's eyes widen slightly. "Are you sure?"

"I don't know what else it could be."

"Did anyone see it happen?" asks Finn.

"Nyra - she got a glimpse of the killer, but she was knocked out before she could see it happen."

Finn touches his chin in thought. "Convenient."

Rey and I look at him indignantly.

"What?" he says. "It's not a completely _out there_ conclusion…"

"She wouldn't do that. She's not that kind of person." I shake my head. "Besides, if she wanted to kill her husband, she wouldn't make it so damn obvious. And use a lightsaber."

"Can we talk to her?" Rey asks gently.

I think for a moment before answering, "Yeah. It's just - she's a bit shaken up. I don't think she'll trust either of you."

"Why don't you come with?" she says, pointing her chin at him. "If you were the one she called, she must trust _you_."

**REY SKYWALKER**

Poe leads Finn and me up to the door of the house.

It's a small, squat place, secluded by thick trees. Unlike most of the houses in the colony, this one is some distance from any neighbors, off on a dirt road.

The reminder that someone was killed in this quiet home makes me feel uneasy. I bet the silence of this place _was_ peaceful, but the events that happened here have cursed the silence into something more menacing.

The door opens just as we approach the door. A woman steps out, probably around Poe's age; she has fair skin and a soft, oval face. Long, curly red hair falls around her shoulders, and she clutches a shawl around her although it's quite hot out. She has the marks of exhaustion and anxiety: her brown eyes are bloodshot with grey bags beneath them, and there's a dry colorlessness to her face.

I have a strong urge to give her a hug and some kind words. I know how it feels to lose someone you love, how cold and hollow you feel immediately after, and how long it takes for it to get better. I give her a sympathetic smile instead, figuring that it might be a little odd for a complete stranger to ambush her with a hug.

The woman looks at me and Finn with skepticism. Her eyes eventually land on Poe; at the sight of him, her expression becomes significantly less guarded.

"Poe - who are these people?" Her voice is dry and cracked.

"These are my friends," Poe says. "They're here to help."

"Are they from the Alliance?"

"No."

Her face falls.

"You can trust them." He steps forward slightly. "I promise."

She leans in and says in a hushed voice to Poe, "You didn't tell me anyone was coming…"

"I know. I'm sorry." He says a second time: "But they're here to help."

Her eyes scan me and Finn again. She swallows and nods. "Come in."

We enter a small living room with one, wide window, sunlight pouring in through the glass.

Finn and I sit down at two chairs across from Nyra, while Poe stands at the corner of the room, observant.

Nyra shrugs off her shawl and asks, "If you aren't with the Alliance, then who are you?"

"My name is Rey Skywalker," I say in a measured voice. "I'm a Jedi. This is Finn, my apprentice."

Finn holds up his hand slightly in greeting.

It always feels odd calling Finn my apprentice when he's older than me by a few years and I view him as my peer. But he has a long way to go before becoming a Jedi, and I don't know what else to call him.

"We're independent from the Alliance," I continue, "but we specialize in these kinds of cases."

"Poe seems to think that...that a Force user was involved somehow?"

"Do you think that?" Finn asks.

She avoids eye contact as she talks. "I don't know why someone with the Force would go after my husband."

"Do you know of anyone that might've had a vendetta against him?" asks Rey.

She looks at me. "My husband - he was a librarian. He didn't have many friends, but he didn't have any enemies, either. He kept to himself, mostly." She squirms in her chair. "I don't understand...I told the investigator all of this already…"

"They don't have access to the details of the investigation," Poe says.

She looks down at her hands, which Rey notices are shaking.

"I'm sorry," Finn leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees. The motion slides his sleeve back, revealing a square-shaped tattoo at the top of his forearm, just below the crook of his arm. "I know this is the last thing you want to be doing right now."

The woman's eyes trail absentmindedly down to the mark.

Defensively, Finn covers it slightly.

Nyra's eyes avert to her hands again.

"We're on your side," I say in a clear voice.

She shudders out a breath.

"If you want justice for your husband, though, you need to tell us everything you saw last night. Every detail." I straighten my shoulders. "Then, we'll leave you be."

Nyra closes her eyes for a moment, collecting herself, then opens them. "I woke up because I heard a noise - a loud _thud._ It's an old house, it makes a lot of noises...I didn't think anything of it. But then they came into our room, and they stood at the end of the bed, and they just _stayed_ there for a moment. They weren't very tall...I didn't get a good look at their features. But I think it might've been a girl. Just as I was about to scream, she stunned me." Her eyes glaze over. "When I woke up...my husband. He was still beside me, but the girl had put a hole straight through his chest - " Her voice cracks at the last word, and tears begin to spill out of her eyes. She shivers and covers her mouth, looking embarrassed.

Poe rushes to her side and sits down next to her, taking her free hand.

She lowers the other one from her face and places it on top of his.

I notice the closeness of them, how they seem to relax into each other.

Nyra continues to quietly sob, retreating into herself.

Poe squeezes her hand and looks at me. "I think you should go."

I feel a wave of guilt. Who would want to be questioned by strangers after such a tragedy? "I think so, too."

**FINN**

We walk along the dirt road on our way back to Poe's house, the sun beating down on us. I breathe in the warm air once, grateful to be outside again. It was suffocating in there.

Rey is distressed and quiet for the first few minutes of walking, then simply mutters, "Poor woman."

I don't reply to this, squinting up at the clear sky.

I feel Rey looking at me. "What?" she asks.

"I didn't say anything."

"I know, but you want to."

I kick a stray pebble with the tip of my boot. "I'm not buying it."

"Why not?"

"She was incredibly vague when it came to the details," I say, "and it _still_ seems off that she missed the whole thing."

"Like Poe said - if she did it, why would she make it so obvious?"

"Crime of passion."

"With a lightsaber?"

I shrug and repeat, "I don't buy it."

"I think she's grieving, and it's making her disoriented."

"Real handy for her to be disoriented right now."

"Have a little compassion, will you?"

"I don't - "

"I _know,_ you don't buy it. But I think we should give her the benefit of the doubt."

"Of course you think that."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You always see the best in people."

"Yes, I do. You should try it sometime."

I pick up my pace. "What's the deal with Poe and Nyra?" I try to make my voice sound apathetic, but it doesn't work.

"Oh," Rey says in a knowing voice that I'm not a huge fan of.

"What?" I turn around and stop in my tracks.

"That's what this is all about."

"What _what_ is all about?"

"Why you're all huffy."

"I'm not _huffy._ " I cross my arms, then uncross them because that's a huffy thing to do. "Me and Poe...that was what? A year and a half ago? If he's been messing around with a married woman, then he has every right to do so. It's a free galaxy."

She smiles at me wryly. "Well, you seem entirely okay with it."

I scowl at her, turn back around, and begin to walk again. Badly wanting to change the subject, I say, "So what's our plan from here? She pretty much gave us nothing."

There's a moment of thought. "We learn everything we can about Els Iris. I've a feeling that he has more enemies than it seems."

**POE DAMERON**

Nyra's sobs eventually reduce to quiet tears. Her posture is hunched, and she looks at her hands with glazed over eyes.

I've never seen her break before, and I'm not quite sure what to do. I figure that all I can do is be here.

"I'm gonna get you something to drink." I stand up and walk into the small kitchen. "What do you want? Water? Tea?"

She sniffs. "I'm gonna need something stronger than that."

I wander over to the conservator, pull out two Yavinian ales, and walk back into the living room.

"I still don't trust your friends," she says as I sit back down next to her.

I hand her the ale and open my own. "I don't expect you to trust anyone right now."

She pops off the lid, and it clatters to the floor. "I trust _you_."

I smile weakly and take a long sip of the ale.

Nyra stares at the mouth of her bottle but doesn't drink from it. "He wasn't a good man."

Not knowing how to respond, I stay quiet.

She finally takes a miniscule sip. "He didn't care about anything but himself. He was selfish. He lied about a lot of things. He was just…"

"...an asshole?" I blurt, knowing that I probably shouldn't say it.

Nyra chuckles joylessly. "Essentially." She closes her eyes, as if to shield herself against something. She sets her drink down.

I turn my own drink in my hands. "When I was at my lowest, I was determined to be left alone, to wallow in my own misery. You were the only one stubborn enough to not let yourself be pushed away." I set my ale down next to hers and look at her firmly.

After a few moments, she meets my eyes. The tears have stopped spilling, but the stains of them still rest on her cheeks.

"I'm gonna be just as stubborn," I say. "I hope you know that."

She looks at the door, as if she wants to burst out of it right now. "We need to get out of here. We can get off this moon. We could go to Naboo - it's where I was born, you know. It's beautiful there." She strokes the side of my face with a cool hand. "We can start over."

I kiss her hand and gently remove it from my face, clasping it in both of mine.

Our eyes linger for a moment. Hers always have a steadiness to them, no matter what's going on around her. She's beautiful.

We move into a deep kiss. There's an urgent desperation to it, as if we'll be caught by someone any second. I realize, though, that there's no one to catch us anymore. There's nothing stopping us from starting over.

Feeling a rush of reckless freedom, I pull her closer to me.

**REY SKYWALKER**

The only thing we've accomplished is making a mess of Poe's kitchen table. Holoprojections sprout up from the surface of census data and news articles and Mindoli University records. So far, everything is a dead end. He seems like an ordinary man with an ordinary profession and an ordinary life.

Finn fervently taps away at the datapad, trying to find any other information. "This would be a helluva lot easier if we were in on the investigation."

"' _No Jedi shall have any affiliations with or power within - '_ "

"I know Yavin's _law._ Doesn't mean it's not a stupid one."

I traipse over to a chair and slump down into it. "I don't prefer your attitude today."

He ignores me and continues to hack away at the datapad.

I hear the _shink_ of a door opening and perk up.

Poe wanders into the kitchen, whistling absentmindedly. He stops when he sees the table. "Any leads?"

I scan the table as if some new information will suddenly appear. I let out a frustrated puff of air. "Finn, anything?"

"We're scraping the bottom of the sarlacc pit."

Poe mutters to me, "What's a sarlacc pit?"

I shrug. "Did she calm down?"

"Uh huh." His face reddens slightly. He clears his throat and turns around abruptly, walking further into the kitchen.

I stand up and walk over to Finn, shutting his datapad closed.

He looks at me, offended. "What the - ! Hey!"

"We've reached a dead end," I say.

Finn lowers his head onto the top of the datapad. "Then what do we do?" His voice is muffled.

"We investigate the house tomorrow." I rest my hands on the back of his chair. "If you reach a dead end, you find a new path."

His head pops up again. "Is that a Jedi proverb?"

"No, that's a _me_ proverb."

"You two need sleep," Poe says, leaning against the kitchen counter and popping a cookie in his mouth. "No offense, but you two look horrible."

"We've only been awake for…" Finn looks at his chronometer, "...twenty six hours. Oh." He rubs his eyes and stands up.

Poe swallows. "I only have one spare room."

"I'll take the _Falcon,_ " Finn says. "Someone should keep an eye on it, anyway."

Poe looks suddenly apprehensive. "Be careful. We don't know where or who the killer is."

"If they're smart," Finn stretches his arms in front of him, "they'll be far from this moon by now."

* * *

I jolt up in my bunk, panting and bewildered, at the crossroads of subconsciousness and reality.

 _It was just a dream,_ I tell myself as I run my hand over the _Falcon's_ cool metal wall. Just like always, it was just a dream.

I wipe the sweat off of my brow and steady my breath, then get out of bed. My heart is still thrumming against my chest.

I hear a loud _thud_ and startle, looking around in the shadowy darkness.

 _The ship makes a lot of strange noises,_ I think, but paranoia gets the best of me. I shuffle over to my satchel and pull out my lightsaber, walking out of the sleeping quarters and tip-toeing down the corridor. My thumb hovers over the saber's switch.

In the corner of my eye, I see a shifting shadow. I snap my gaze over to the spot, but the shadow is gone.

_I'm tired. My mind is playing tricks on me._

I hear the distinct, high-pitched sound of a blaster going off, see the reflection of white light against the metal, and feel a stun blast hit me square in the back.

Everything goes black.

* * *

I wake up on the floor in the corner of a dark room, slouched against a wall. My hands are in stun cuffs chained to a pipe. My feet are tightly bound together with rope. There's a blunt pain coming from my forehead - I must've hit the ground face first.

In a surge of panic, I pull at my restraints. The chains scrape against the pipe, resisting my futile efforts at escaping.

I give up after a few seconds, try to get my nerves to settle. _Where the hell am I?_

The room is lit by a single, harsh bulb. It casts a small amount of light on the walls. My stomach churns at the sight of the objects that line them.

A suit of black death trooper armor. A blood-red banner with the First Order symbol printed on it. The speared weapon of a Praetorian Guard. A holoprojection of Starkiller Base. The white helmet of a stormtrooper. There's more, but these are the only things that aren't completely concealed by shadow.

A woman emerges from the darkness, coming under the direct light of the bulb.

Somehow, I'm not surprised to see who it is. I'm scared out of my wits, but I'm not surprised.

Nyra Iris stands in front of me.

"Where am I?" I try to make it sound like a command, but it comes out all confused and shaky.

She walks over to me, cocking her blaster. I'm convinced that she's going to kill me within seconds, but instead she asks, "Who are you, really?" Her voice is completely different than the one I heard yesterday. This one is cold. Steady.

"I already told you." My brain is locked in a cycle of anxiety and confusion.

"I don't have time for anything but the truth."

"I am who I said I am." My voice becomes stronger. "My name is Finn. I'm a Jedi apprentice to Rey Skywalker. I was a General in the Resistance. I fought alongside Poe Dameron. Who are _you,_ really?"

"Why did she send you? To kill me? To threaten me? Ah…" She's seemingly struck by a thought. She crouches down to my eye level. "She sent you to _frame_ me, didn't she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about - " I tug at my restraints again.

Nyra grabs me by my forearm, her hands ice-cold. She yanks up my sleeve and points to the black square on his arm - my stormtrooper marking. "You're a liar," she hisses. "Worse than that, you're a _traitor._ "

"And you're a psychopathic manipulative Empire-worshipping cultist - "

She hits me across the face with the barrel of the blaster, then shoves it into my chest.

A stinging sensation sprawls from right above my cheekbone, making my eyes water.

"What was your designation?"

"FN-2187."

"Did you associate with the Elx Squad? With Admiral Ahren Hayn?"

"Why?"

"Answer the question." She presses the blaster harder against my chest.

"No. The First Order was big. You miss people." Warm blood begins to run down my cheek. Anger courses through my veins. "How long have you been using Poe?"

She smiles. "I'm asking the questions here."

I get the strong urge to punch her in the teeth.

Nyra uncocks her blaster and slides it into her holster. "I think we should review the facts." She grips the back of my neck and pulls me forward. "My husband was killed by a woman last night with the exact same mark as yours - a First Order mark given to stormtroopers - and she was killed with the exact same weapon that you happen to carry."

She removes her hand and stands up, pulling _my_ lightsaber from her belt. She turns it on and draws it carefully in the air, admiring the blade.

"I had nothing to do with your husband's death."

"I don't _believe you…"_

"Of course you don't."

I remember the Jedi mind trick. I'm barely an amateur at it, but considering she could kill me any second, it's worth a shot.

"You will release me and give me back my lightsaber." Rey told me to breathe the Force into my words, and that's what I'm attempting to do now.

She looks at me quizzically.

I repeat myself. "You will _release me_ and give me back my _lightsaber._ "

Nyra frowns. "That's not gonna work on me."

 _Kriff,_ I think.

She lowers the blade and wanders around the room, illuminated by the green strip of light. "My husband and I collected all of this after the war." Her eyes flash. "There's not much left of the Order. All of this…" She touches the holo of Starkiller Base, "...it's _precious_. But I have to destroy it, for the sake of our survival."

"The Order is dead," I spit. "Palpatine's dead. You lost."

"Wars end. Regimes end. But ideas never die."

"Go to hell."

"You first." She turns off the lightsaber. "Do you mind if I keep this?"

I glare at her.

She hooks it to her belt, then pulls a small device out of her pocket. She flips it and a small flame emits from it. "You'll have to burn with the rest of it."

She walks to the bottom of the staircase in the opposite corner and throws the lighter onto the ground.

Hitting some sort of chemical, the single flame erupts into a wall of fire. It begins a slow, destructive crawl, shattering glass and melting armor.

By the time I look back where Nyra was standing, she's gone.

Sweat prickles at my skin. The air is becoming thicker and nauseatingly warmer.

I wrestle with my restraints again, try to pull my wrists out of my cuffs until it feels like I'm going to break my bones in the process.

" _HELP!" I_ yell. _"SOMEBODY! HELP!"_

No answer.

I continue to repeat my begs. The shouting scrapes against my throat like gravel.

After a minute, I give up. It's useless. I feel alone, more alone than I've felt in a long time. _No one's gonna help me,_ is the thought that keeps repeating in my brain.

As if it's resisting the notion that I'm alone, Rey's words on Ajan Kloss rise to the forefront of my brain: " _You're relying on your own strength - rather than the Force - and it shows."_

The Force is my last resort, when it should've been my first.

I close my eyes. I focus on my breath, on my heartbeat, on the ground beneath my feet, even on the fire...I search for, find, and tap into the energy that connects all of these things.

I can't move things with this energy like Rey can. I can't transform that energy into something outward and tangible - at least, not yet. But I'm connected to the Force. I can travel through it.

I breathe in, breathe out. "Rey…" I murmur. "Rey...please…"

**REY SKYWALKER**

My eyes snap open mid-meditation.

Hovering a few feet in the air, I noisily tumble to the floor, landing on my tailbone.

I curse under my breath and crawl to my feet. It feels like someone shot piping hot water through my veins.

I saw fire, and I heard Finn's voice say my name in a quiet beg, then a recent memory of him saying, " _I don't buy it."_

He had been talking about Nyra.

Poe walks in front of her door, rubbing his eyes with his dark, curly hair sticking up in the back. "The hell was that noise?"

"Have you seen Finn?"

"No, I've been _sleeping._ "

I rush past him, knocking into his shoulder and bolting down the hall.

"You know what would help this situation?" Poe says as he follows me. " _Context_."

I burst through the back door, into the morning air, and bound across the wet grass in bare feet, breathlessly approaching the _Falcon._ I lower the ramp and run up it.

Once I'm in the ship with Poe beside me, I shout, "Finn! _Finn!"_

D-O zips up to us. " _Danger! Danger! Danger!"_ he yells in his usual anxious tone.

Poe and I exchange looks, then simultaneously crouch down to talk to the droid.

"Deo," I say, "where's Finn?"

It rolls back and forth on its wheeled base, then speeds down the corridor. " _Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger!"_

The more nervous D-O gets, the harder it is for him to articulate things.

We chase after the droid and find him in the sleeping quarters. The sheets in one of the bunks are thrown back.

Poe's face goes pale. He walks into the hall and hollers, " _Finn!_ "

"He's not here." I know in my gut that he's not here. "Go start the landspeeder. Now."

He turns to face me. "Where do we go?"

"We need to find Nyra."

"What? Why?"

I walk up to him impatiently. "I - I don't have time to explain. I think she has something to do with this."

He looks at me for a moment, confusion and fear on his face.

"Go!" I cry.

**POE DAMERON**

I cut the engine.

Rey hops out of the landspeeder and races up to the door.

I follow reluctantly.

She pounds at the door, and when no one answers, she backs up and pushes her hand forward.

The door severs from its tracks and crashes onto the floor.

Nyra comes out from her bedroom into the hall, still in her sleeping clothes. She looks petrified. "I - Poe, what's happening?"

I don't know how to reply. I don't know what's happening, either.

"Where is he?" Rey's voice booms. Her eyes are dark, determined.

"Where is _who_?"

"Finn. I know you have him."

"Rey…" I say in a warning tone.

Nyra stumbles back. "I'll call the militia if you don't get the _hell_ out of here."

Rey reaches for her lightsaber.

I grip her wrist just as she's about to unhook the weapon.

She looks at me, seemingly offended, and yanks herself away. She grabs her saber and brandishes it. She storms up to Nyra and backs her into the wall at the end of the hall, pointing the tip of her lightsaber at her throat.

Nyra plasters herself against the wall, face paper-white, eyes shining with tears.

"Look for Finn," Rey tells me. "I'll take care of her."

My limbs feel frozen.

"Don't leave me here…" Tears stream down her face. "Please - I don't know what you're talking about. _Please_ don't kill me."

Rey doesn't give into her pleas. "You're keeping him somewhere. And I know...I _know_ he doesn't have much time left."

" _Do something_ , Poe!" Nyra shouts through her sobs. "Why aren't you _doing anything?_ "

"You're a liar," she says. "And the truth will come out, one way or another. You can either tell me _now,_ or I can reach into your mind, pull out everything you know. It doesn't feel good, having your own thoughts invaded. I don't recommend it."

" _Please...please…_ " Her voice is barely above a whisper. " _Help me…"_

My chest tightens. Everything in me tells me to help her.

"She's manipulating you, Poe," Rey says. "I can sense it. Force knows how long she's been manipulating you."

"Don't you trust me?" Nyra says. "After everything…?" Her eyes bore into mine. "I love you. I love you more than anything. Please don't let her hurt me…"

My hand reaches for my blaster. I draw it slowly from my holster, and I see a look of hope on Nyra's face.

That hope is slashed when the barrel of the blaster is pointed at her.

For a moment, I regret the decision I've made. What if Rey's intuition is misguided?

As if a switch has gone off, Nyra's expression shifts, turning cold and hard. The sobbing stops. She looks at me with a malice that sends shivers down my spine. Her eyes linger on me for a second, then slowly turn over to Rey.

"Where is he?" Rey says through gritted teeth.

She grins. "It's probably too late."

Rey turns her lightsaber and presses the side of the blade against her neck. "I won't ask again."

"The shed out back," she blurts. "Move the shelf. There's a hatch. The code is thirty-seven-three."

Rey looks over her shoulder. "Watch her. I'm going to get Finn." She lowers her lightsaber and rushes out of the hall.

I step forward, still aiming the blaster at her head.

"I don't understand." Her voice is just as cold as her expression. She lifts her chin at me. "Why her word over mine?"

I frown at her. "She's never been wrong about someone before."

**REY SKYWALKER**

I storm into the shed, spot the shelf, and push it aside with the Force.

I feel the floor and find a gap in the metal. I dig my fingers underneath it and pull out a panel, finding a hatch planted in the dirt and a number pad.

With a shaking hand, I punch in the numbers. 373.

The hatch opens. A wave of heat hits me in the face. Looking down, I see a narrow staircase flooded by the flickering light of flames.

Over the roaring of the fire, I hear a guttural cough.

 _Finn._ I shove my scarf over my mouth and nose and run down the stairs two steps at a time.

I come to an abrupt halt at the last step.

The room is filled with smoke and flames, hot air contained in the stone room like a furnace.

Beyond the flames, I see a hunched figure in the corner. I'm filled with an odd rush of terror and relief. He's alive - I _know_ he's alive - I just have to get to him.

I reach out towards the flames, feeling the Force course through my veins. It feels cool, calm - the opposite of the unforgiving, destructive fire in front of me.

The flames begin to seperate, forming an arched pathway of bright yellow light that leads directly to Finn.

I split my attention between two things: keeping the flames under my control, and rescuing Finn.

I tread through the smoke and the sparks, the air feeling like murky, hot water.

Finn coughs again. "Rey?" he croaks.

"I'm here." I kneel down in front of him. "I'm here." I work at removing his restraints, untying the ropes around his ankles and severing the chain holding together his stun cuffs with my lightsaber.

Finn's head hangs low.

"Stay with me, alright?" I cough myself.

He responds with a faint, "Alright."

I help him off the floor and sling his arm around my shoulders. We walk through the arched tunnel of fire.

It takes all of my strength to continually push away the flames. I know that Finn is doing the best that he can, but his feet drag and it's taking longer than I'd like.

The smoke creeps into my lungs. I start to cough, my body trying to release the bitter air.

We reach the bottom of the stairs and clamber up the steps.

It isn't until Finn and I are safely in the shed that I release my hold on the fire; It feels like a hundred pound weight has been lifted off of me.

I pull off my scarf, breathe in the clear air, and slam the hatch shut.

Finn crumples onto the floor, weakly propping himself against the wall. He's covered in sweat and ash. I notice a bloody bruise just below his right eye. He coughs more violently into his fist.

I sit beside him and feel the pulse at his neck. It's pounding, and his skin is hot to the touch.

"Nyra…" He breathes in short gasps of air. "She's…"

"I know." I take his hand. "Just breathe."

He closes his eyes and slowly steadies his breath, coughing intermittently.

"Don't ever disappear on me again," I say.

He lets out a small wheeze of a laugh and opens his eyes. "I'll try."

I look at the door. "I'm going to get you help."

He nods silently. "I relied on the Force…" he says. His voice is half-gone. "Like you told me to...I reached out…"

I squeeze his hand reassuringly. "I heard you."

**POE DAMERON**

Rey comes into the house, stepping over the door she knocked over about an hour earlier. She gives me a greeting nod.

"How is he?" I ask.

"Better now," she says. "He'll be okay."

I breathe a sigh of relief.

She points her chin at the door I've come out of. "How is _she_?"

I frown. "Still sleepin'."

We walk through the door, pass the living room, and enter the kitchen.

Nyra is tied to one of the dining table chairs, her unconscious head rolled down to her chest. The curtains are drawn, leaving the room in shadows.

Before I call Yavin Four's militia to put Nyra in custody, I want to hear the truth directly from her. I need to know who she really is, her true form that she's been hiding from me for three months.

After a moment, she stirs. Her eyes flutter open.

She lifts up her head and locks eyes with me.

I break away my gaze.

With us still out of earshot, Rey leans in and mutters, "I can talk to her."

"No," I say. "Let me do it."

"I need you to keep a level head."

"Yeah?" I put my hands on my sides. "Why should I?"

"Oh, my - are you cheating on me?" Nyra sneers. "She's pretty, but she's a little _young._ "

I brush past Rey, pulling out the chair across from her and sitting down. I set my blaster on the table.

She stares at the blaster, unaffected by the sight of it.

"What's your name?" is my first question.

"You know my name."

"No, I don't. What's your _real_ name?"

She straightens her shoulders. "Agent Iyala Tros."

"And your husband?"

"Ahren Hayn. _Admiral_ Ahren Hayn. He was still a negligent bastard - I didn't lie about that. But we did share the same goals…"

I tilt my head at her. "What were those goals?"

Her expression turns thoughtful. "We knew we couldn't live out in the open like we wanted to. It was best to live in secrecy, to change our names, to conform - it was, it _is,_ the only way for us to survive."

"Who's 'us'?"

Iyala rolls her head back. "Do you really think you stomped out every Imperial after you killed the Emperor?" She brings her head back down, looking venomous. "No. You just made us smaller, pushed us underground."

Absorbing all of this, I lean back in my chair. "But why drag me into all of this? I'm not involved with the Alliance…"

"You were vulnerable," she says. "Your poor father had died, your friends had left you to ' _play Jedi'_ \- that's what you called it, didn't you?"

I don't answer.

"But I know that you wouldn't have this quiet life forever, as much as you're dead-set on it. You're not that kind of man. You're going to end up just like Organa...you can't stand peace. You want chaos, and you want _power…_ " She leans forward, arms strained against the chair. "And I was going to be there, pulling the rug from underneath you without you knowing it."

_Keep a level head, keep a level head, keep a level head…_

"I'm sorry," she says, although she doesn't sound sorry. "It didn't mean anything to me, but it meant everything to you."

"You're dead to me now."

She eyes the blaster teasingly. "Then kill me."

I place my hand on the blaster but don't lift it. "The only thing stopping me," I say, anger at the edges of my voice, "is the fact that you have information that _we_ need."

She looks at me flatly. "That's the _only_ thing?"

My hand moves away from the blaster and curls into a fist at my side. I generate all of my fury into the motion, my nails digging into my palm. The only thing stopping me from exploding is the fact that the sick woman would probably be entertained by it. She's treating this whole thing like a game.

"I want to know what happened that night," Rey says from the corner, clearly trying to get the interrogation back on track. "I'm guessing you lied about that, too." She walks over to the table, standing next to me with her arms crossed.

Iyala looks up at Rey. "My husband led the Elx Squad. An elite team of stormtroopers - all of them were dedicated, loyal. They lost their lives in the Battle of Exegol because of terrorists like you. Besides one - SN-1702. She went missing in action. The other night is the first time anyone has seen her in over a year."

Rey furrows her brow. "And she used the Dark Side?"

"She didn't seem like a _Jedi_. She kept muttering things - incantations - and she had a red blade."

I look to Rey. Her face signifies that she doesn't have any answers. I look back at Iyala. "Do you know where she is?"

"A hostel on Naboo."

I remember her words from yesterday. "That's why you wanted to…"

"...run away with you to Naboo?" She chuckles quietly. "You're a fool, Dameron."

"And you've lost," Rey says. There's anger in her voice now, too. She puts a protective hand on my shoulder. "You're going somewhere where you can't hurt anymore people."

"People keep saying that we've lost..." She tilts her head, mouth curling up into a smile. "I'm not so sure about that."

**FINN**

I pull myself upright and plant my feet on the floor, looking out the wide window of my infirmary room.

The room is on a high floor, and it looks out over the capital of Yavin Four: it's an odd mix of sleek modern buildings and ancient stone structures with growths of green jungle between them. The sky is dark and gray, rain pattering against the window. After all that fire, I don't mind seeing the rain.

They made me inhale something (that smelt horrible) for a bit to get rid of all the smoke in my body, and bandaged up the spot below my eye. I feel mostly recovered now, just tired, but they're keeping me here for observation.

All the lying around is making me anxious. I can't stand being pulled from the action. I have faith that Rey can finish the job, but that doesn't mean I don't want to help.

I hear a faint buzzing, and see that my holotransmitter is going off. I snatch it and answer the call.

Rey flickers into view. She's dressed in a long, hooded jacket and black practical gear, her hair pulled into a long braid. She scans me like a medical droid. "How're you feeling?"

"'Like a million credits," I tell her.

She looks at me doubtfully.

"I'm good. I promise." I furrow my brow. "Where're you going?"

"Naboo. That's where the suspect is hiding out."

"'Doesn't seem like the type of planet where a criminal would hide out."

"I think that's the point." Rey tugs at the cuffs of her jacket. "Turns out Nyra is a former First Order agent - Iyala Tros. Her husband was an Admiral - and the woman that killed him was a rather vengeful stormtrooper."

I perk up. "A stormtrooper?"

"SN-1702."

Nyra's words start to come back to me. "Was she a part of Elx Squad?"

Rey nods. "Did you know her?"

"I know the squad." I may have bent the truth a little when Nyra - sorry, _Iyala_ \- was interrogating me. "They were seen as perfect soldiers in the First Order's eyes. Everyone wanted to be them, was afraid of them, or both…"

"Which one were you?"

"I was afraid of them." Most of them were destined to join the ranks of Captain Phasma. I don't tell Rey that I was considered for the rigorous Elx Squad training program, but deliberately failed my entry exam. I could've seen SN-1702, but I would have no way of knowing for sure.

Rey thinks before saying, "Do you think we should go after her?"

I raise my eyebrows at her. "Of course."

"But she didn't kill an innocent man. She killed a war criminal. And you've said it before - no First Order stormtrooper had a choice in being one."

"She used the Dark Side, didn't she?"

Rey has a grave, meditative expression on her face. "I don't know what else it would be."

"Then we have to stop her."

"You're right," she says, shaking her head. "'Wait - 'we'?"

I shrug. "This is the first time we've seen the Dark Side - hell, another Force user - since the war ended. I know you can handle it, but a little backup never hurt anyone."

"Poe's coming."

"What is Poe gonna do?"

"Poe's...perfectly capable."

"Not against a Force-user."

"Well, you know how stubborn he is."

"And you know how stubborn _I_ am. I'm going."

"Don't be a laserbrain. You almost burned to death."

I thrust a finger at her. " _Almost._ "

She looks at me, exasperated. "You need rest."

Because of my laserbrain tendencies, her disapproval makes me more persistent. "We were both stormtroopers and we _both_ have the Force. Don't you think that I'd be able to get through to her?"

Rey frowns at me. "Finn - you no longer have a hand in this mission." She speaks slowly with deliberate enunciation, as if she's talking to someone who doesn't know Basic. "We're going to take it from here."

I huff as a response.

She looks at something in the distance. "I should get going."

"Be safe."

"I will."

"...And thank you."

"For what?"

"For saving my ass."

She smiles. "Take it easy for a bit, alright?"

"Alright."

The transmission ends.

I set the holotransmitter back on the table and cross my legs underneath me, taking in the silence of the infirmary.

Through the sheets of rain, I see a ship hovering above the jungle in the distance. I watch it lazily for a moment.

I'm not shocked anymore by the fact that I'm not the only stormtrooper to defect from the First Order. Of _course_ people defected: everything the Order taught went against basic human instincts for empathy, independence, freedom. To think that I was the only one who kept those instincts intact was almost arrogant of me.

But I've never thought of the notion of another stormtrooper with Force abilities. One that defected like me, but went down an entirely different path.

The ship reduces to a dot and disappears.

My eyes wander down to the stormtrooper mark on my arm.

Yeah, I'm going.

**REY SKYWALKER**

I walk into the empty cockpit of the _Millennium Falcon._ I look at the swirling blue tunnel of hyperspace, then at the empty pilot's seat.

I peek down the corridor and find that it's also empty, then rush over to the seat and slide into it triumphantly. After checking the control panel, I lean back and pop a miki seed into my mouth.

I hear footsteps coming up from behind me, undoubtedly Poe's. He clears his throat.

I don't respond.

He clears his throat _louder._

"My ship," I say in a sing-song voice.

" _My_ ship," he corrects me.

I spin around. " _Your_ ship?"

He scratches his beard. "Well, Lando said that _I_ was the rightful owner…"

"...And Chewie said that _I_ was the rightful owner."

"I don't think you understand his language as much as you think you do."

I respond by telling him to do something rather crude in Shyriiwook.

"I don't know what you said, but I'm guessing it was offensive." He spreads his hands. "All I'm saying is maybe we should give the best ship to the best pilot."

"Oh, I agree completely. Which is why I'm in the pilot's seat."

He scoffs. "You're better than me at a lot of things, alright? But piloting isn't one of them."

I throw another seed into my mouth. "Mm. Debatable."

Poe narrows his eyes at me. "You've got a big head for a Jedi." He walks over to the co-pilot's seat and sits down.

"Well, according to you, I'm only _playing_ Jedi." I regret the gripe almost immediately after I say it.

His expression turns guilty. "I didn't…" he stops himself, then says, "...I was bitter at all the wrong things when I said that to Nyra - I mean, Iyala."

"I'm sorry about her."

He waves his hand dismissively, although his expression doesn't seem all that dismissive. "I'm too old to be that stupid." He flicks a control, and I get the sense that he'd rather not talk about it anymore. He's not the kind of person to talk about those kinds of things - at least, not with me.

We come out of hyperspace after another half hour. In the distance, I see the blue-green planet of Naboo.

Not far from us, another ship pops out of hyperspace.

I peer over at it through the viewport. It's an old yellow A-Wing.

"What the - " Poe pushes himself up from his seat and stares at it. "That's my ship!"

"What d'you mean?"

"I _mean_ that's my ship!" He sits back down. "I'm sending them a transmission." His fingers work nimbly over the controls.

We both put our headset comlinks on once the transmission is sent out.

The ship picks up.

Poe takes the lead: "This is Poe Dameron, Captain of the _Millennium Falcon -_ "

I hit him on the arm.

" - Me and my co-pilot here are wondering where you got that A-Wing."

"Isn't Chewie the captain?"

Poe and I exchange glances, immediately recognizing the voice on the other side.

"Finn?" Poe says. "What the hell?"

"Don't be mad," his voice crackles through.

I bury my face in my hands.

"I borrowed your A-Wing, Poe. I hope you don't mind."

"I actually _do_ mind." He lets out a heavy sigh. "I specifically asked the medical droid to keep an eye on you."

"Oh, I sneaked past her easy."

I look up from my hands. "I already told you - Poe and I can handle this."

"I know you can. But I'm still going."

Poe brings the mic closer to his mouth. "If you so much as _scratch_ that ship - "

The transmission cuts off.

He rips off his head set, resting it around his neck. "Flyboy," he mutters.

I take off my own. "Oh, you wanted him to come."

Poe presses his lips into a frown. He doesn't deny this.

I know that he enjoys it when Finn is just as reckless as he is.

**NABOO**

**POE DAMERON**

I've only ever been to Naboo twice. One time, with my parents. They had taken me during one Life Day when I was around five or six to see a light festival. I remember many voices singing, floating bulbs of green and yellow light, both parents holding either of my hands, and not much else. The second time was during a spice run on one of Naboo's moons. I remember a shipload of Sansanna spice, a broken repulsor actuator, a very angry Gungan, and not much else. I blame my lack of remembrance of one trip on young age, and the other on too much Corellian whiskey. I think you can figure which is which.

During both of these trips, one of the many things I failed to remember was how beautiful of a planet Naboo is. It's full of green pastures, lush forests, wide, expansive lakes.

We fly over the city of Theed, which rests on the edge of a high cliff that has an abundance of tall waterfalls running over it. The buildings of the city are sand-colored with teal, domed tops. With night fallen, the stone streets are flooded with warm light.

I try not to think of how I almost went with Iyala to this place. There wasn't a bone in my body that didn't trust her.

After we land the _Falcon_ in a spaceport on the outskirts of Theed and Finn lands _my_ ship, we head into the southern part of the city. This section has narrow streets filled with older-looking landspeeders and humble-looking folks that keep to themselves.

 _A good place to hide,_ I think, scanning the streets.

The three of us are mostly silent, keeping a keen eye out for someone that resembles the holo that Iyala showed us of SN-1702. Apparently she goes by Sienne now.

She has a round, stern face, large eyes, a small mouth, and dark hair. The holo was an old stormtrooper record, which listed her as average height. The only distinguishing feature she has is a small, slightly cleft chin and a stormtrooper mark on her arm. I've seen no one that resembles her so far.

We turn a corner. Rey, who's leading the group, stops us in our tracks. She points to a wide building, four stories high with thin windows and a sign that reads SOUTHERN _THEED BOARDING HOUSE FOR TRAVELING WOMEN._

"That's our place," she says.

We walk across the near-empty street.

The door of the hostel automatically slides open with a long creak, and we step inside.

The lobby is low-ceilinged and dingy, with deep red walls and a shadowy check-in desk in the corner. Behind the desk is a bored-looking old woman with her head resting on her fist, studying something on the counter.

We walk over the desk.

After a few seconds, she looks up. Her eyes rove over to me and Finn. "No men," she says, moving her hand in a shooing motion. "Go to the Arkren Inn two blocks down…"

"We're not looking for a room," I say.

"We're looking for a person," Rey finishes.

The old woman's eyes become sharp. "That's confidential."

"You have someone here that's very dangerous," Rey's voice becomes more persistent and low. "She goes by the name of Sienne, although she may have signed in under a different name." She pulls something from her pocket and shows it discreetly. By the blue glow that's cast over the woman's face, I assume that it's the holo of Sienne.

"Confidential," the woman repeats. "And no _men._ "

Rey sucks her teeth. "You _will_ tell us everything you know about this girl, and let us pass."

A blank expression washes over his face. "She came here yesterday. She checked in anonymously. She's occupied room 3C. I saw her go into the pub." She points to a door beside the desk.

"I _really_ need to figure out how to do that," Finn murmurs.

We walk toward the pub door and, like the main entrance, the door automatically opens.

**FINN**

The pub is almost vacant and just as run-down as the lobby, with old wooden tables and sandy walls. There's a round bar in the middle of the room with a droid behind it.

I look around and find a hooded figure in the corner, sitting alone at one of the tables. She slowly turns a drink in her pale hands. I spot the stormtrooper mark on her bare forearm.

She lifts her head. Her eyes don't wander. They find mine immediately and stay there.

I shudder and bring my eyes away, nudging Rey's arm.

"I see her," Rey replies.

Poe leans in and mutters, "Why isn't she moving?"

"Why aren't _we_ moving?" I say.

I break away from the both of them and stride over to her. She hasn't stopped staring.

Rey and Poe follow, treading more cautiously than me.

My hand hovers near my blaster as I approach the table.

"You look tired." She has an accent that I don't recognize. "Why don't you take a seat?"

Hesitantly, I put a hand on the back of an empty chair. "If I were you, I'd be running right about now."

"Diplomacy first," Sienne says. She takes off her hood, revealing her face. I saw the holo, but I didn't really grasp until now how... _human_ she looks. It's the same way I felt when I saw the face of Kylo Ren for the first time. You expect Dark Siders to look like monsters. "That's how you Jedi operate, isn't it? Trying every last option before you resort to violence…" She cocks her chin at me, repeats, "Take a seat."

I sit down.

The interaction feels...off. It's not just that she's calmly telling me to join her at her table; the Force is telling me that there's something missing. I just can't pinpoint what that missing thing _is._

Rey and Poe join me at the table. Poe pulls his blaster out almost immediately, keeping it close to him so as to not reveal it to any of the other pub patrons.

She eyes it, tensing slightly.

"Nothing personal," Poe says. "But I'm not a Jedi."

She laces her fingers together, intense gaze moving over to him. "You know, I always do my research before I make the kill. He found out about you and the girl. And by the way he was shining his rifle...I think he was looking to use it on somebody."

Poe's face falls.

"You should also know," she says, "that you've been having an affair with an - "

"Imperial," I finish. "Yeah, we found that out the hard way."

She raises her drink in Poe's direction. "Don't be too hard on yourself, General. She's tricked a lot of people much smarter than you."

He narrows his eyes at her and doesn't let up on the blaster.

"I don't understand," Rey says. "Why keep Iyala alive?"

She takes a long sip of her drink. "If I killed both of them, there was a chance that their true identities would never be found out. I figured the investigation would spiral into her revealing who she and her husband really were."

"We did our own research," I say. "We know who you really are, too."

She looks at me expectantly.

"SN-1702. You fought in the Battle of Exegol, but you deserted - like I did."

A crease appears in between her brows. "I didn't desert."

I tilt my head. "What d'you mean?"

"My jetpack was shot by one of your troops. I fell to the planet's surface, tore up my legs, but I survived. When I finally got to civilization, they told me the First Order, the Final Order was dead - and the war was over. I had fought till the end."

"So you're no better than the rest of 'em," says Poe. "You knew what you were doing was wrong, but you didn't do anything to resist."

Her nostrils flare as she glares at him. "You have _no idea_ what it was like. We were ripped from our families, stripped of our names, our cultures, our identities, conditioned over and over and _over_ again until we were as loyal as droids. Any sign of disobedience could get you brainscraped. Sometimes exterminated." She bores her eyes into mine again. " _He_ knows."

I look down at my hands, trying to push a flood of memories to the back of my mind.

"And you... _you_ got the chance to escape," she says. I can feel her anger. "But instead of liberating us, you turned around and _slaughtered_ us."

I meet her eyes. "It was war," I say, feeling cold for saying these words. "I did what I had to."

She leans forward and says in a furious, hushed voice, "You're no better than the man I killed."

Through my anger, the force whispers something to me, wordlessly telling me what the missing thing is.

I unhook my lightsaber, point the hilt at Sienne, and switch the weapon on.

My green blade goes straight through her chest.

She looks down at the saber, eyes widened in shock. I notice that the green light doesn't reflect in her eyes.

I hear the gasps of the few patrons that populate the pub.

I feel Poe grab at my arm, as if he's trying to restrain me. Rey doesn't do anything except watch the exchange carefully.

I yank my arm away and stab the blade further into her chest. It feels like I'm cutting through air.

Her expression turns furious. "How did you know?"

I turn the saber off. "A feeling."

It's a strange, unnerving sight: the woman evaporates into smoke (as well as the drink she was holding).

Poe scrapes his chair back and stands up, pointing his blaster at where Sienne was just a moment ago. "What the...I...she…?"

"It was a distraction," Rey breathes. She and I stand up simultaneously.

"She baited us with _this_ version of her so that she could make her escape." I clip my lightsaber back onto my belt.

Poe still looks dumbfounded. "How…?"

"No time for _how,_ " Rey says impatiently. "We need to find her before she gets off-planet!"

* * *

We burst out of the hostel, back out into the open air.

I scan the dark streets. In the distance at the end of the block, I see a hooded figure begin to turn a corner. Somehow I know, "That's her!" I point to the figure just before she disappears.

Without hesitation, Rey breaks into a run and darts down the street.

I go to follow her when Poe stops me by throwing his arm out.

I look at him. "What?"

He uses his chin to point at a speeder bike parked in front of the hostel. It looks like a slick, black bullet. "I think that thing'll get us there a whole lot quicker."

"Poe, we're not gonna steal a…"

He rushes over and mounts the bike, ripping off the cover of the steering column and starting to hotwire it.

"...speeder bike."

"Don't worry." He works the wires. "I'm just borrowing it."

I arch a brow at him.

He revs the engine. "Five, four, three - I'm leaving without you - two…"

I hop on.

"...One!"

I barely have time to hold on to him before he zips off into the street.

**REY SKYWALKER**

I bolt after Sienne, people stumbling out of the way as I cut through the sidewalk.

She doesn't shoot at me and I don't shoot at her. I don't want to hurt any civilians, and I'm guessing that she doesn't want to make things unnecessarily messy.

I see her turn into an alley.

My feet pound harder against the pavement, hands flat and cutting through the night air.

I reach the alley and turn a sharp corner into it, skidding to a halt.

The long alley is between two buildings and barely two meters wide, leading out into another street. Sienne is reaching the end of it.

I get back to running and draw the blaster from my thigh holster, sending a stun blast towards her.

She ducks.

The white rings of light miss her and hit the wall of a building on the other side of the street.

I'm gaining traction on her as she sends a red-hot blast towards me. I brandish my lightsaber and deflect it on one of the alley's brick walls, sending debris tumbling down.

I spot a loose pipe laying on the side of one of the buildings and use the Force to move it in front of her feet.

She trips on the pipe and falls flat onto the pavement.

I put the blaster back into my hoster jog up to her. Breathlessly, I point my lightsaber at her.

Sienne turns over onto her back and lights her own red blade.

She looks the same as her projection, except her nose is bleeding from the fall - and she's wearing something that's glowing green around her neck. I focus on it and realize that it's a gas contained in a crystal case.

Memories of my studies emerge. "Ichor…" I mutter. "You're a Nightsister."

Taking advantage of my distraction, she swats my blade out of the way and scrambles to her feet. She slashes her saber at me.

I deflect it. I take the defensive stance, continually and exhaustively blocking her blows.

"I see that you've done your studying," Sienne says as she swings her blade at my side.

I spin out of the way and turn into a kick, my foot colliding with her hip and sending her into the wall.

With a pained expression, she moves her blade in a forceful, horizontal stroke, aiming at my neck.

I duck, but she kicks me right in the jugular.

Still in a squat, I lose my balance and land on my rear, wheezing with pain coursing through my throat.

She sends her saber diagonally toward me.

I block it.

Our blades push against each other in an X-shaped deadlock, our faces lit by a mix of red and blue.

"I can help you," I say, finally gaining my breath again, though my voice is still half-gone. "The man that you murdered...he deserved his fate. But revenge, the Dark Side...it's not a path you want to go down."

She narrows her eyes at me. The ichor hanging from her neck pulses. "I don't need your help."

I summon all of my strength and press against her lightsaber, but Sienne is strong. She towers over me and doesn't let up, the blade inching closer to my face, its heat radiating onto my skin.

I feel electricity crackling between my fingers, think about using it…until I hear the whizz of a blaster going off.

A blue bolt hits Sienne in her lightsaber-wielding shoulder.

She stumbles back, letting out a wounded cry, the grip on her saber loosening.

I look over and see Poe at one end of the alley, holding a blaster with his arm outstretched. He's mounted a speeder bike that he's definitely not the rightful owner of. Finn holds onto him by the waist.

"Is this one real?" Poe hollers.

Finn hops off of the bike and begins to run toward me.

Sienne sloppily tries to strike at my shoulder, but I block her once again.

I clamber to my feet and guard one end of the alley while Finn and Poe's speeder bike obstruct the other.

Finn and I both point the tips of our lightsabers at the wounded Sienne, both blades mere millimeters from puncturing her neck.

Her eyes flicker between the both of us.

"I think," Finn says, panting, "now would be a good time to surrender."

I look at him sharply. "You stole my line."

**FINN**

I volunteered to guard the room that we locked Sienne in as a makeshift cell on the _Falcon._ Poe is piloting the A-Wing, and Rey is piloting this ship.

I keep myself busy by studying the texts that Rey has translated for me on a stack of loose paper. I'm trying to find any mention of the Nightsisters; Sienne is one of them, apparently. The thought of sleep tugs at me, but I ignore it. _It would help if these Jedi weren't such dry writers,_ I think.

"What're you reading?"

I look up and spring from my spot on the floor, picking up my lightsaber and igniting it. The papers fly off of my lap and are strewn across the floor.

"Relax," Sienne says. She holds up her hand, and it evaporates into smoke.

Just to make sure, I pick up my water canteen and throw it at her.

It flies straight through her, hitting the wall with a resounding clang and noisily dropping to the floor.

"Everything okay in there?" Rey yells from the cockpit.

"Uh - yeah! Everything's fine!" I look back at Sienne and mutter, "What do you want?"

Silently, Sienne slides down the wall and sits on the floor, resting her forearms on her knees.

I start picking up papers, trying to figure out what order they go in. "I've had a very, very, veeery long day."

She just stares at me, like she did at the hostel.

I peer up and down the hall. "I don't care if you sit there - just don't say anything." I gather the last of my papers and sit back down across from her.

I go back to studying. We stay like that for a moment.

Sienne doesn't move, and I can feel her staring at me still.

I peer up from my papers and break the silence: "Don't think that I never thought about it," I say in a hushed voice.

She tugs her knees closer to her chest. "Thought about what?"

I set the papers down. "What I was doing. I knew that the soldiers I killed were victims."

Sienne frowns. "Then why did you do it?"

"I had no other choice. They shot at me, so I shot at them."

She scoffs. "You never really changed, did you?"

I furrow my brow at her.

"You still have the mind of a stormtrooper. You always have to be following orders from somewhere," she says. "First the Order, then the Resistance…" her eyes glint, and she says in a knowing voice, "...and now, the Jedi. Why are you so afraid to think for yourself?"

"I'm not afraid - "

"I sense it. You don't think I've done anything wrong. In fact, if you were in _my_ shoes, you would've done the same thing. But the woman you're _following around_ says it was wrong, so it _must_ be wrong, no matter how you feel about it."

My hand lingers near my lightsaber, although I know it won't do anything. "Get out."

She disappears and reappears by my side.

"You used the Dark Side." I turn my head to look at her. "I've seen how much that power can hurt people."

"I'm not like the Sith," she says. "The Dark Side doesn't control me. I control _it._ And I've never killed a being that didn't deserve it."

"Why don't you tell that to the Council, then?" There's that cold feeling again. I turn my head forward, refusing to look at her any longer.

She chuckles. "There's a _lot_ of things that I can tell the Council…"

 _She's baiting you again,_ I think. _Ignore her._

"I wonder how they would react to hearing that your teacher is the granddaughter of the Emperor. That Rey Skywalker is a fraud."

My gaze snaps back over to her. "How do you…?"

Her face is hardened and angry. "I just know that it's going to take something more than sympathy to get me out of here. I'm not one for blackmail, but…"

"...you're blackmailing me."

"Do you know how many people would be after Rey's head if they knew that she was a Palpatine?"

"She's not a Palpatine," I say, feeling heat rise in my face. "She's the farthest you can get from that monster."

"The Alliance won't care. They'll only care that they're trusting the future of the Jedi Order with the descendent of a Sith Lord."

I sense that she doesn't get any joy out of this, not like how Iyala seemingly enjoyed doing terrible things. This doesn't make me any less angry.

"Let me go," she says, "and my lips are sealed."

"Finn?" I hear Rey's voice from down the corridor.

Sienne evaporates.

Rey walks up to where I'm sitting, oblivious. "We're gonna be arriving soon." She studies my face. "Are you alright?"

I rub my eyes. "Yeah. Fine. Tired."

Rey heaves a sigh. "Me too." She eyes the door warily, then leaves.

I lean my head against the wall, exhaling.

I make up my mind.

Sienne appears again, in the same spot she was when she first appeared.

I scoot closer to her and say in an urgent whisper, "Go far from here. Somewhere in the Outer Rim that the Alliance hasn't reached yet. Don't cause any more trouble. And if you try to hurt any of my friends ever again, if you ever say a _word_ about what you know, then I'll hunt you down myself. Do we understand each other?"

There's a quick flash of relief across her face. She nods.

"Good. If you wanna get out of here, you'll do exactly as I say."

**POE DAMERON**

I find Rey meditating under the Force sensitive tree in the yard of the homestead.

The tree had been a gift from Luke Skywalker to my parents, starting out as a branch and growing into a towering, shady tree.

I can't explain the feeling that the tree instills in your bones. But then again, most things relating to the Force are unexplainable.

I was going to sit here in the morning hours, do some thinking and maybe some praying, but Rey seems completely at peace and I don't want to interrupt her.

I begin to tip-toe away from the tree when Rey opens her eyes and says, "Stay."

I awkwardly walk back. "I didn't want to interrupt - "

"It's okay." She crosses her legs onto the stone bench beneath her and slumps her shoulders. "I was just meditating. I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither." I duck under a bough and sit down next to her.

Every once in a while, there's a blue glow that emits from the tree. Right now is one of those times.

"Any word from the Alliance?" Rey asks, looking up at the leaves.

"They're still firm on their orders. _They're_ going after the girl, and they don't need your help."

"Have they found her yet?"

"No."

She hangs her head. "The Alliance already doesn't trust me. This isn't helping my case…"

"Don't be too hard on yourself," I say. "She slipped through your fingers. It happens."

She hugs her arms. "Maybe - somehow - we can get back on the mission. Or...if we go out and _catch_ her, what are they going to do, turn us away?"

I prop myself up by my arms. "I think you need to let this one go. You've got orders."

"Not a fan of orders."

I chuckle. "Me neither."

We fall into a bout of silence, both of us absorbed in our own inner worlds.

After a few moments, she says, "I know how it feels."

I look at her.

"Losing someone that you love, I mean. The loneliness of it...I wouldn't wish it on anyone." Her words feel heavy. I know there's a lot of things she hasn't told me.

A familiar wave of guilt washes over me. "I shouldn't have pushed everyone away. And I knew my relationship with Iyala was wrong, but I…" The sentence fades out. My eyes sting with tears. "I can't be making my father proud."

"You're a good man, Poe," she says softly. "But even good men aren't perfect."

I try to keep them in, but one tear seeps out. I wipe it away quickly. "All of this Jedi stuff is making you wise."

She smiles unevenly. "Trust me, it's not." The smile falters. "If I _were_ wise, I would've stayed and helped a friend, even when he insisted that he didn't need helping."

I look up at the gaps of sky between the branches. "You and Finn...you're meant for bigger things. Things that I don't understand. I'm not gonna be the guy that holds you back."

"You don't hold us back, Poe." Rey places a firm hand on my shoulder. "You make us stronger." She removes her hand and stands up, turning to face me. "My offer from three months ago - it still stands."

I give her a small, apologetic smile. "That's very kind of you, but I…" I think of an excuse. "It's been a while since I've been out there."

She plucks a leaf from the tree. "All the more reason to get out there again." Her eyes wander to the horizon. "The sun's going to be up soon. I should get ready. Just...think on it."

"Okay," I say quietly.

Rey starts to walk toward the house. After a moment, her footsteps stop and she turns around again. "Poe?"

I look up at her.

There's a firm kindness to her expression. "Your father would be proud of you."

Not sure how to respond, I nod and look at the ground.

I feel her gaze stay on me for a moment, then hear her boots against the grass as she heads toward the house.

I lift my head up, see BB-8 roll up to Rey. She stops and chats with him, nodding and smiling, then gestures for the droid to come inside with her.

In a few hours, the house will be empty again.

**FINN**

There's a sick sort of feeling in my stomach as Rey, D-O, and I walk toward the _Falcon._

The worst part of the whole thing is that I can't tell anyone. Rey and Poe were angry when they found out that Sienne had broken out and taken an escape pod just when we came out of hyperspace. Once I woke up from being knocked out by the Force (which I had done to myself as part of the plan), I pretended to be just as upset as they were, to not know anything. I told them that she got free of her restraints somehow and, before I could stop her, she overpowered me.

I've broken the law, probably. I've lied to my friends - but I can't give them the burden of being accessories. If I receive any punishment for this, it will be mine to deal with.

"You're quiet today," Rey says.

I snap out of my thoughts. "Oh - I'm just...thinking. It's been quite a mission."

She pats me on the back. "Don't blame yourself for what happened."

Her sympathy makes me feel ten thousand times worse. I almost wish she was mad at me. But _no,_ she has to be a forgiving and compassionate person all the damn time.

Just as we approach the ramp of the ship, I hear Poe's voice say, "Wait!"

We both turn around.

He runs up to us, BB-8 at his side. He's wearing a worn green shirt and cargo pants, the straps of a backpack over his shoulders and a holster strapped to his thigh. He looks ready for adventure. Still keeping the beard, though.

"Room for two more?" Poe asks.

Rey's face lights up. "What made you change your mind?"

His gaze alternates between me and Rey. "Iyala was right about one thing - I'm not cut out for the quiet life."

Rey crosses her arms. "Well, it is _your_ ship."

Poe raises his eyebrows, points at himself. "Did you just say that it's _my_ ship?"

"It _was_ my ship. But I'm giving the role of captain to you. As a gift."

"I just…" He cups his hand around his ear. "I need you to say it one more time."

"Don't get cocky, or I'll take it back."

"Nope. Nope. You already said it. No backsies."

"Did you just say _no backsies?_ "

I look up at the sky, pressing my palms together. "Force help us all."

"I'm still the co-pilot," Rey says. "And I'm not addressing you as Captain."

"Right." He smirks. "The correct term is _General."_

"Not calling you that, either."

He presses his lips together. "Fine."

D-O and BB-8 are already chatting away in droidspeak.

Rey beckons them to follow her up the ramp.

Poe lingers, glancing back at the house. "I'm thinking we can use this place as the home base. It's quiet. Even a Jedi needs a place to land his feet."

I smile. "I've always loved this moon."

He squints up at the sky. "Yeah, me too."

I hold out my hand. "It's good to have you back, Poe."

Poe takes it and shakes it firmly. "What can I say? I miss getting into trouble."

We board the _Falcon._ Poe slides into the pilot's seat, looking smug. Rey takes the co-pilot's seat and I take the back.

Ever since the three of us met during the war, we've broken away from each other at points, but not for long. We always find our way back. It's as if the Force itself has pulled us together as a makeshift family.

I look around at the cockpit of the ship. All of us together doesn't feel perfect, but it definitely feels right.

We leave the atmosphere of Yavin 4. The stars stretch back as we propel into hyperspace.

 _Onto the next adventure,_ I think.


End file.
